


Home With Me

by All_InProcess



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Pets, everyone is happy and in love, merlin is a cat person, superspy husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 23:49:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9044471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_InProcess/pseuds/All_InProcess
Summary: "His heart ached a little and he knew that this was going to be the one he took home with him. Harry was going to lose his shit, but he’d get it back eventually. Completely worth it, Merlin rationalized to himself."
 Because when someone says that they don't want to adopt a pet, it actually means that they do, right?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Galahard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galahard/gifts).



> Any excuse to write happy, domestic Merlahad is a good excuse to me!
> 
> Happy holidays, Galahard! Hope you enjoy! xox

“Don’t you miss having a pet around the house?” Merlin asked casually as he walked out of the bathroom. Was the dog above the toilet still a little weird to him? Yes. But was he really in any position to criticize Harry on any of his oddities? No.

Harry laughed, shaking his head, “Some days, I suppose. But for the most part I’m perfectly fine. Taking care of you is more than enough.”  
He narrowed his eyes at him, “I’ll just go then, shall I?”

He smirked, reaching forward taking Merlin’s hand in his own, “You know I don’t mean it,” there was a pause, “Why do you ask, though? Do _you_ miss having a pet around the house?”

“As lovable as Mr. Pickle is,” Merlin shot him a glance, “I just think it would be nice to have another companion around. It’s not a dire need but still…”

Harry rested his hands in his lap, “When would we ever be home to take care of it?”

Merlin paused. They were both around a bit more than they previously had been. Harry was in vehement denial that it was because he just wasn’t as fast as he used to be, or rather, as fast as some of the younger, newer agents. Merlin would’ve been lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy a bit. It was nice to have Harry around a bit more. Truth be told the desire for a pet was much worse in prior years when Harry seemed to constantly be flying around the world and Merlin was stuck in the lab by himself, or at home by himself. He’d bit his tongue though, knowing that telling Harry he just hated being alone all the damn time wasn’t going to fix anything, because it wasn’t really either of their faults. But now they’d be home a bit more to spend time, and plus Merlin could always bring it to the lab with him as well. His other techies would have a field day.

“Aye, but we’re both around a bit more though, aren’t we?”

“Perhaps,” Harry looked back down at the book in his hand, and just like that the conversation was over for the time being.

Merlin sat down on the other end of the couch, swinging his legs up onto it and tangling them with Harry’s, earning a small smile from the man as he turned the page in his book. Merlin watched him for a moment, not able but to smile a bit himself. He reached over onto the coffee table and grabbed his tablet, nestling back into the couch for the optimal scrolling position. He felt Harry’s legs brush against his as he shifted from one position to another and a wave of contentment washed over him. It took a long time to get here but they made it.

He was searching through pet adoption sites, because he loved to torture himself. Surely Harry wasn’t actually _that_ opposed to having a four-legged friend in the house again. After all, Harry had loved his dog and he even loved Merlin’s dog when she was alive, the large beast of a Newfoundland that she was. Harry deep down was an animal person so if Merlin _just so happened_ to find a pet to rescue and adopt Harry certainly wouldn’t turn it _away_.

Harry pulled his legs back and planted his feet on the floor, rolling his neck for a moment before standing up and looking over at Merlin, “I think I’m going to bed, Darling. You coming?”

He quickly shut out of his browser windows, “In a minute,” giving as innocent of a smile as he could.

Harry gave an affectionate squeeze to the man’s shoulder as he passed by him to go upstairs, and Merlin let out a sigh of relief. It’s not like he was asking Harry to adopt a kid with him or anything, just a dog or a cat or _something_. He loved living with Harry and he loved the house but sometimes it just felt like there was something missing.

When he finally got upstairs, he found Harry lying on his stomach, taking up two-thirds of the bed as usual. Merlin chuckled quietly to himself as he peeled off his sweater and trousers, slipping into a much more comfortable pair of flannel pajama pants. He made his way over to the bed and climbed up onto it. Carefully, trying as hard as he could not to disturb Harry in the process, he situated himself so he had one leg on either side of him. Harry mumbled something into the pillow but Merlin just shushed him gently as he began massaging Harry’s upper back and shoulders.

“You’re nothing but knots,” Merlin said quietly, shaking his head.

“You don’t have to—” Harry started to mumble, but Merlin cut him off.

“Like you’ll do anything to take care of it,” he smiled. He really didn’t mind, he just knew that Harry would let his body get to the point of ruin in any and every way possible before starting the repair process, so any way that Merlin could help, he would.

That was the last thing that either of them said. Merlin slowly worked as many knots as he could out of Harry’s shoulders all the way to his waist. Occasionally Harry would tense up when Merlin worked into an especially tight knot, but by the time Merlin was finishing up, Harry’s quiet snores were filling their silent little bedroom. Merlin carefully swung his leg back over and crawled into his own side of the bed, lying on his side so that he was facing Harry. As soon as he pulled the covers over himself he felt his eyes begin to grow heavy and before he knew it he was fast asleep.

*

“Well,” Harry sighed as he walked out of the dining room with Merlin, leaving Arthur behind, “that was a nice two weeks home, wasn’t it?”

Merlin smiled to himself. If Harry went too long without another mission he’d get antsy, but if he was home for only a week or two, he’d consider it not a long enough break because he’d finally gotten back into the groove of being home and then he had to jet off again.

“If it’s any consolation, Harry,” he smiled, “it _was_ nice having you home.”

He chuckled, “I’m glad that you think so,” he took a deep breath, “Alright, well, I suppose I’m going to run home and pack quickly and then I’ll be off.”

“Make sure you have everything you need before you rush out of the house.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Of course,” he gave Merlin a quick kiss, “I’ll be right back.”

He watched Harry rush out the door and to the taxi that was already outside waiting for him. Merlin sighed and headed over to the dressing room, knowing that the sooner he got to HQ, the better. He sat down in the tube and began scrolling through his tablet again. He could spend hours on adoption sites. Every single pet seemed like it would fit in perfectly with their home. It was a wonder that he hadn’t just gone off and adopted one already. Because really, what was actually stopping him?

Before he could talk himself into adopting every stray animal in the country, he arrived at HQ. He wandered away from the pages on pages of animals up for adoption and pulled up Harry’s mission information. He had a bit of an unfair advantage compared to the rest of the Kingsman since he could access nearly anything that Harry was doing, and all but had to on certain missions. It was a reassurance most of the time, but there had been plenty instances when Merlin had wished he stayed in the dark.

Soon enough Harry came sauntering into the lab to say goodbye to Merlin. He wasn’t supposed to be gone for more than a week. It wasn’t anything deep cover thankfully, because quite frankly Merlin was hoping that Harry was done with those kinds of missions. Harry had an oversized suitcase in tow, which Merlin was sure was still missing some vital things he’d need that he’d get angry about when he reached his hotel.

“You’ll be back before you know it,” Merlin could see his disappointment.

“I’d rather not leave at all.”

One end of Merlin’s mouth curled up into a smirk, “I know,” he stood up and walked over, wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist and pulling him in close, “But just think, soon enough you’ll be home and itching to get away from me again.”

It got him to laugh, “At least I have something to look forward to then.”

Merlin leaned in, kissing Harry long and hard on the lips. When he eventually pulled away, there was a softness in his eyes, “Be careful.”

“Of course. Besides,” Harry gently placed his hand on Merlin’s cheek, “I’m sure you’ll tell me if I’m not.”

“Exactly,” he smiled before kissing Harry again, “I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you soon,” he stole another quick kiss before heading off out the door.

*

Two days went by and finally Merlin couldn’t take it anymore. Once he left the lab for the day, making a point to leave a little earlier than usual, he made his way down to the animal shelter. He wasn’t going to leave without a new housemate, and there wasn’t a single thing that Harry could do about it. Besides, these animals _needed_ a home.

He wandered up and down the aisle, looking into all the kennels at all the pleading faces. They had everything from Great Danes, to Yorkies, to cats and kittens of every shape and size. Merlin had always been more of a cat person, not that he admitted that to anyone. But soon enough he found himself in front of the kitten kennels. There was one in the center of the line, and she looked like she’d been through some tough times. His heart ached a little and he knew that this was going to be the one he took home with him. Harry was going to lose his shit, but he’d get it back eventually. Completely worth it, Merlin rationalized to himself.

“Pardon me,” he flagged down one of the employees, “would I be able to take that one out for a bit?” he gestured to the one cat that wasn’t climbing all over her kennel door meowing.

“Of course!” he turned and walked over, unlatching her door and gently lifting her from the cage, “It’s been a while since someone asked to see Miss Mittens.”

“Miss Mittens?” there was laughter to his voice.

He shrugged, “When strays come here we have to give them names. And it looks like she’s got one mitten on her front paw and one on her back paw.”

Merlin sat down in the holding room and held the cat in his arms, looking at her paws, and she did have two white paws and two yellowish ones that matched the rest of her fur. She didn’t have overly long hair but it was longer than that of the cats Merlin had owned in the past. There was a piece of her left ear missing, and a scar on one of her back legs. He set her down and she seemed to walk around just fine, and she wandered right back over and into his lap again, lying down waiting for him to pet her.

He looked up at the young man, “I’ll take her.”

He beamed and nodded, “Alright, I’ll get you all taken care of then. Do you have supplies?”

“No, but I’ll get some on my way home.”

Without further ado, Merlin was leaving the shelter with a brand new cat. He stopped by the pet store and picked up cat litter, cat food, a couple toys, and a bed. He figured that would hold them over at least until Harry got home and they decided on what else to get.

“He might seem angry at first,” Merlin said as he opened the door to the carrier that the cat had been in, “But he’s not angry at you. He’ll warm up to you soon enough, Miss Mittens.”

She rubbed up against his legs and purred for a few moments before beginning to explore her new home. Merlin couldn’t wipe the grin off of his face as he got all of her supplies all set up.

*

He kept his mouth shut for the next few days, not wanting Harry to know about the cat until he got home. He had talked to Roxy about it, though, because he needed someone to be excited with. She had come over to meet the lovely Miss Mittens, who had certainly made herself perfect at home within 24 hours of arriving at Harry’s.

“He’ll wring your neck for this, you know.”

Merlin smiled as he scratched the cat behind the ears, “He would never.”

Soon enough, Harry was home. The mission had taken a few days longer than planned but everyone was safe and that was all that mattered. Merlin had to fight to keep his mouth shut when Harry got back to HQ. First things first he had to meet with Arthur and review the mission, but then he was free to go home with Merlin for the rest of the day. He couldn’t wait to sleep in his own bed again.

“So,” Merlin carried Harry’s suitcase into the house for him, “I have a bit of a surprise for you. I think you’re going to enjoy it, though.”

Harry chuckled, “A surprise? How long have I been gone for?”

Upon hearing the door shut behind the two of them, Miss Mittens came padding down the stairs, the bell on her collar jingling quietly with each step, “Harry, meet Miss Mittens.”

He raised his eyebrows, unable to speak for a few moments as the cat sniffed him and made figure-eights between his legs, “You…you got a cat?”

He gave a sheepish smile, “I couldn’t help it. She just looked like she needed a home. She’s been through a lot, and I thought that if anyone would understand that it’d be us, aye?”

Harry didn’t take his eyes off of the feline sitting at his feet, eagerly awaiting the affection that Merlin had been giving her for the past week. “You just went out and…adopted a cat? Don’t you think this should be some sort of a discussion first?”

“You never seem to want to discuss it,” he crouched down and scooped her up in his arms, “Besides, look at her, Harry. She’s a beaut.”

He was silent for a few moments before reaching forward and running his hand over her head, feeling her torn ear glide beneath his fingers. He sighed, try as he might he had to admit the cat was cute. And all things considered it was surprising that Merlin had held off so long on bringing home an animal.

“Must we keep the name Miss Mittens?”

Merlin cocked an eyebrow, “This coming from the lad who named his dog Mr. Pickle?”

Harry bit his tongue, knowing that at this point he really didn’t have any room to argue. There was no way that he was going to be able to talk Merlin into finding another home for the poor thing—he could tell by the way Merlin was smiling at her. He took a deep breath, watching as he set the cat down and she wandered off, jingling all the way.

“She better be box-trained,” he looked over at Merlin, who was grinning like a child. Harry stepped forward and kissed Merlin on the lips, because as much as he wanted to be mad about him doing this without running it by him, Harry also knew this was one of the many reasons that he loved Merlin. He followed Merlin up the stairs as he brought the suitcase up, “And I better not find cat hair all over everything now.”


End file.
